Hope Schumacker on BHSU’s Images Program

Hope Schumacker imagined she’d be a instructor, or perhaps work in advertising. Even although
she’d been doing pictures since she was six, she considered her inventive work as
simply one other interest, like her father’s ardour for constructing vehicles. Things modified in
her senior 12 months of highschool, when a pictures instructor advisable Hope submit
one among her images to an upcoming competitors. A high 10 end inspired her to start
occupied with pursuing pictures professionally. Four years later and armed with
a BFA from Black Hills State University (BHSU), Hope works with companies of all
sizes and pours the identical care into every project.  

Hope grew up in Devils Lake, North Dakota, about an hour from the Canadian border.
She spent weekends going to the racetrack along with her father, who was a mechanic. She
credit her small-town upbringing for instilling “good morals” in her however says that
she dreamed of leaving North Dakota. “I used to be all the time watching TV and flicks, and I used to be
like ‘there’s an entire world on the market,’” she mentioned. “I drive by cows and cornfields
daily, however there’s so many different experiences and alternatives.”  

After graduating highschool, Hope’s seek for these alternatives introduced her to
Spearfish. “Right away once I stepped on campus at BH, I didn’t really feel like simply one other
particular person. I felt like they really needed to listen to from me.” That, coupled with the
college’s inexpensive tuition, made the faculty resolution simple.  

Midway by her research at BHSU, Hope returned to Devils Lake to mourn the loss of life
of her father. Her grief impressed an exhibit referred to as Love, Hopey, which was displayed in her senior 12 months. The exhibit consists of 20 images that visually
discover Hope’s grief. Pictures of an uneaten bowl of ice cream and an unused grill
present her father’s absence. The objects seem in pairs—there are two bike helmets,
two bowls of ice cream, and two fishing rods. One merchandise in every set belongs to her,
and the opposite belonged to her father. Since each objects in every pair are unused,
the exhibit means that the absence of Hope’s father has diminished Hope’s curiosity
within the issues she as soon as did with him, fishing, biking, and consuming ice cream. But the
final {photograph} exhibits her standing in a discipline, demonstrating her persistence by
grief. Hope says that when the exhibit was displayed, that strangers who noticed their
personal grief in Hope’s hugged her. “What we’re creating within the second, it actually feels
prefer it’s for us,” Hope mentioned, “but it’s actually for such a bigger purpose.” 

Hope credit two of her BHSU professors, Scott Chandler and Allen Morris, for serving to
her create in the course of the grieving course of. “Being in a position to create a physique of labor with
individuals who had been there each step of the best way was actually particular and necessary to me,”
she mentioned. “And they actually perceive the way to push you in methods and make you higher,
however additionally they know the way to take a step again once you simply want assist.” 

Hope’s inventive pursuits aren’t restricted to pictures. A minor in artwork allowed her
to pursue these passions with out the necessity to flip them right into a profession. “For me, doing
bodily artwork that’s not simply digital actually helps me keep inventive in a unique
method,” she mentioned.  

After commencement, Hope moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to be a industrial photographer.
She had already accomplished an internship along with her buddy and mentor, Lauren Hubbard, who
is predicated in Atlanta, so the town appeared like an apparent match. There, Hope alternates between roles as lead photographer, pictures assistant, manufacturing
assistant, videographer, and social media supervisor. This vary of expertise has allowed
her to be a part of crews on larger-scale tasks for manufacturers like Adidas, Emory Healthcare,
and Delaware North. She says she values the chance to contribute behind the scenes
and sees firsthand how important every particular person is in bringing a challenge to life.  

Hope is very enthusiastic about working with small to mid-sized companies in
the meals, beverage, and well being and wellness areas. She persistently pictures for
an area therapeutic massage therapist and has labored with a number of healthcare professionals, and
finds actual pleasure in serving to them visually inform their story. She says that industrial pictures jobs have strict deadlines and specs.
But having spent 4 years competing pictures assignments that required the identical
issues, she’s properly geared up for her new profession.  

In Georgia, Hope discovered a group of photographers that helps one another. She
stays a member of the Society for Photographic Education and Focus on Women, an
group for feminine photographers, and can be the director of the Atlanta chapter
of American Photographic Artists. She says it’s exceptional that fairly than being
“competition-oriented,” photographers in Atlanta “actually simply need to see one another
succeed.” She likens her new group to the one she discovered at BHSU. “I wish to be
concerned with group,” she mentioned. “I all the time say I might go to varsity endlessly if
it had been free.”   

When requested about her dream pictures job, she mentioned that she would like to work with
well being and wellness manufacturers. In specific, she’d wish to work with BlenderBottle,
an organization that manufactures water bottles, of which she says she has “way too many.”
She’s began work on a brand new high quality artwork exhibit that can juxtapose her outdated dwelling, Devils
Lake, along with her new dwelling, Atlanta. But in the intervening time she’s specializing in constructing a robust portfolio and her clientele.
 

Hope expressed her grief visually by photographing the issues she beloved to do with
her father. Credit: Hope Schumacker

The passing of her father impressed Hope’s high quality artwork exhibit, Love Hopey. Credit: Hope
Schumacker

Hope’s exhibit demonstrates her persistence by grief. Credit: Hope Schumacker

Hope Schumacker ‘24, graduated BHSU with a BFA in pictures. Credit: Hope Schumacker

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